Sotheby’s New York to auction bottle of ‘revered’ Château Lafite Rothschild 1865

Sotheby’s is offering one of the oldest bottles of wine it has ever auctioned – a bottle of  Château Lafite Rothschild 1865 – along with two magnums of the “legendary” Glamis Castle Lafite 1870, in its upcoming auction. 

The three bottles are the highlights in a landmark single-owner sale which reads like “a roll call of Bordeaux’s most revered châteaux and vintages”, Sotheby’s said. Although “intentionally concise”, the sale spans more than 200 years, including wines from the pre-phylloxera era of the 19th century –  “widely regarded as a golden age of winemaking”, Sotheby’s said – along with modern classics from the late 20th century.

Richard Young, Sotheby’s wine head of auction sales, Americas, called it a collection “that transcends the notion of great wine and enters the realm of the truly mythical”.

The collection was assembled with “intellectual rigor and emotional curiosity” over several decades, starting in the 1980s, after a vertical tasting of Château Margaux. It soon evolved into a “lifelong dedication to sourcing exceptional wines from auctions and private cellars”, resulting in a “remarkably focused and cohesive collection that reflects both connoisseurship and intent” by a passionate collector”, the auction house said.

“These bottles are not only benchmarks of Bordeaux at its finest, but rare survivors from a golden era of winemaking that can never be replicated,” Young added. “From pre-phylloxera legends to the most celebrated vintages of the 20th century, the depth, condition, and sheer ambition of this cellar make it one of the rarest and most compelling we have offered in recent years.”

Lafite 1865

The Lafite 1865, which has a pre-sale estimate of US$15,000-20,000 is one of the most revered pre-phylloxera vintages, noted for its exceptionally deep colour as well as the outstanding quality upon release. This particular bottle originates from the cellar of Sir George Meyrick, where it lay for 100 years before the cellar was dispersed at auction in 1970.

The Lafite 1870 magnums – which are being sold as two separate lots, with an estimate of US$30,000–50,000 each – also have an exceptional provenance, having originated from the historic cellars of Glamis Castle in Scotland (the seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne, the current Earl being a second cousin to King Charles III). The Glamis’ Castle’s ‘Cellar Book 1885–1894 documents the purchase and laying down of 48 magnums of 1870 Lafite in 1878, and the wines remained undisturbed in the cellar until the collection was brought to auction in 1971.

“Bottles tasted from this storied cellar since the auction are widely regarded as the best preserved examples of this wine,” Sotheby’s noted.

Roll-call of historic vintages

In addition to the highlights, the collection includes iconic vintages such as the 1929, 1945, 1947, 1959, 1961, and 1982, and includes First Growths alongside some of the best-known Châteaux. It also includes a wide selection of large formats, including magnums, double magnums, jeroboams, and an imperial of 1959 Lafite (estimate: US$30,000-50,000).

Other notable wines in the collection include 1961 Palmer in double Magnum (estimate US$18,000-24,000), and 1959 Haut-Brion in Jeroboam (estimate: US$20,000-30,000), as well as an “exceptional” vertical selection of Château d’Yquem dating back to the 1896 vintage.

The Immortal Vintages | 200 Years of Bordeaux sale, which takes place in New York on 17 April, comprises 250 lots and is expected to achieve more than US$1 million.

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